All in a Photograph
by Nightwingstar
Summary: How long had it been? A day, a month, or even a year? It's not like it mattered anymore. He couldn't go back, he had been exiled.


I wrote this as a companion to something I drew and made a preview. It's sad but true.

* * *

_**All in a Photograph**_

* * *

How long had it been?

A day, a month, or even a year? It's not like it mattered anymore. He couldn't go back, he had been exiled.

To the human world, filled with life and wonders, he was the greatest threat. They forced him from his home, his family and friends, and from the sunsets and full moons. He wanted nothing more than to stargaze with his friends again and tell him his dreams of becoming an astronaut.

And to the Ghost Zone? He was more powerful than Pariah, no one dared touch him, and if they did, they would regret it.

So what was left to do? The Ghost Zone was dead and boring, there was nothing to do except have talks with Clockwork. He couldn't even sneak out to watch a sunset or see the snow fall like the good old days without causing mayhem at the sight of him.

If he dreamed, yes dreamed, no humans would scorn him for being half living, the ghost zone wouldn't cower in fear the moment he passed by. If he dreamed, he would be safe. He'd be hanging out with his best friends, Tucker and Sam, playing in the park or watching movies. He'd be trying not to lose his pants in front of Paulina, he'd be scowling at his parents as the Boo-marang hit him once more, and he'd be laughing when Jazz would mess up so bad that she'd wind up in the Fenton thermos. If he dreamed... it would be the safest place and he could smile for the first time in a long time...

* * *

Danny sat cross-legged, floating in Clockwork's domain. He was watching his life again, watching all the things he could have changed. "Even if you can't see them face to face, they're still with you." Clockwork told Danny gently, eying the boy whom looked wistful and lost. 

"I know." Danny replied with a soft smile. He reached into the pocket on his leg and pulled out a folded photograph. "I have them here, they're all in a photograph."

"A smile is only worth giving when there's someone to give it to." Clockwork sighed, knowing the smile was just an act.

"Oh?" Danny cocked his head, feigning amusement. "And who would that someone be? Mom? Dad? Nah they're too busy trying to find a way to tear me apart molecule by molecule." Danny pointed to a scene where his parents stated the fact. "Jazz? Tucker? They're busy living their dreams." He had known Jazz was going to Harvard and Tucker was at the top of his class and had just won the national science fair. "Sam?" His voice came out soft and his eyes saddened. He turned away from Clockwork to finish what he was going to say about her. "She's better off without me. And you?" Danny turned back to Clockwork, his face in a slight scowl. "You're the only one who doesn't turn me away other than Frostbite but his people are afraid of me." Danny turned back to watch another scene play out. "Besides," Danny said after a while, glancing at Clockwork as he changed from a baby to a middle aged man. "what if I just want to smile?" Danny cocked his head, a smile on his face.

"Your demeanor has changed." Clockwork stated as Danny stretched out his legs, watching a scene freeze. "You try so hard."

"I know," Danny replied, brushing off invisible dust from his sleeves, "I can change all I want but it won't change a damn thing around me."

"I've seen you've grown wiser."

"Yeah but I still suck at math." Danny scoffed.

"Then go see the mathematician ghost." Clockwork encouraged, almost annoyed that Danny was preventing him from doing his job.

"Can't, I've tried. He'll teach me but even if I get a wrong answer he says it's right. It's like, two plus two equals ninety-seven. CORRECT!" Danny laughed lightly to himself. "What I wouldn't give to be in Lancer's class again. He'd be, 'LORD OF THE FLIES FENTON!' And then Sam would laugh." Danny seemed lost in a memory for a moment before he snapped back and looked at Clockwork. "I'll see you in a few hours, I think I'm going to take a nap." Danny flew out of Clockwork's domain, disappearing into the green.

"He's terrorizing the ghost zone!" An observer glared at Clockwork.

"He's just floating around doing nothing, how is that terrorizing?" Clockwork asked calmly.

"Ghosts live in fear, wondering when he'll pass by and if they need to run away because he'll attack." Another observer snapped.

"He may be my responsibility but I am not in charge of others." Clockwork replied. "I cannot go back in time and sway the minds of the court and nor can I sway the minds here. What do you suggest I do? I cannot keep him here; he's a growing teen. He's a living teen who needs the living world."

"Then do something!" The two observers snapped together.

* * *

"Danny!" Sam laughed as she was tackled into the snow. "You're getting crazier by the day, don't you ever tire?" She asked, sitting up, gazing at him. It had been two and a half years since Danny had last seen her face to face. She was a senior at Casper and she looked every bit beautiful, Paulina was nothing compared to her. 

"Are you crazy?" Danny asked, flopping into the deep snow. "I haven't breathed this air in so long. I haven't seen your face for over two years, so how am I supposed to make up for that lost time?"

"I don't know." Sam shrugged, propping herself up by her elbows. "Aren't you still on the run?"

"Dunno, do I look the part?" Danny flashed a smile.

"You only come at the dead of night and kidnap me from my bedroom. You act the part." Sam deadpanned.

"But that's okay, right?" Danny asked, lifting his head up off the ground to look at her, his green eyes seemed brighter and full of life.

"More than okay." Sam nodded, rolling over to him before giving him a peck on the lips.

If only it could be this way forever, Danny thought to himself. What? Danny's eyes widened as the night faded to green, Sam became nothing but air and he found himself floating just outside Skulker's lair.

Another dream. Danny frowned, sitting up and holding his head. He gazed at the Fenton portal, only a circle the size of a quarter from where he floated, he missed Sam. The dreams were so real.

* * *

A year passed before the Specter Speeder floated into the ghost zone, an authorized visit by the government. "They're coming." Clockwork told Danny as he floated around, the fake smile still on his face. 

"You said that a few times Clockwork." Danny replied, wishing he could go back to sleep.

"Danny?" A female voice invaded his ears. Danny sat up, looking around. Clockwork was gone but instead was the Specter Speeder where Tucker was at the steering wheels and Sam was stepping out of the open door. He offered her a smile from his floating position, she ran, happy to see him again. "Danny, we've missed you so much! We're going to get in so much trouble when we get back because your family was supposed to come and then in a few months we were supposed to visit but I couldn't help it, I just had to see you." She hugged him tightly, inhaling his scent.

"Sam…" The name rolled off his tongue as if it were foreign to his mouth even though his mind had repeated it constantly. He held her close, closing his eyes and breathing the scent of living air for the first time in three and a half years.

He released her slowly, seeing Tucker climb out of the Speeder as well. "You two are so different." Danny laughed lightly, a smile on his face. "And to think, I had you all in a photograph." Sam flinched seeing Danny's smile grow fake.

"What photograph, Danny?" Tucker asked, approaching Danny cautiously. Danny reached into his leg pocket where he pulled out a photo that was frayed and seemed to be tearing down the middle from the folding and unfolding it had been through. He held it out for the two to see. A family portrait is what Danny liked to call it back when he still lived on the human plane. His family was all there, Mom, Dad, Jazz, Sam, Tucker, and himself. That was his family. "Heh, I wonder where that went." Tucker laughed, a forced smile found its way to the corner of his lips. Danny ignored it, his eyes back on Sam.

"So tell me," A new light in Danny's eyes, filled with an excitement of a child, "what's it like over there? What's changed?" He asked Sam, floating cross-legged again.

"Everyone wants you to come back home." Sam told Danny, looking at Tucker with a faint smile. "The government is reviewing it because they heard the rumor of you in space. They want to launch a ghost out there and they don't know that Vlad's half a ghost. You'll be an astronaut Danny, just like you've always wanted."

"Really?" His eyes lit up even more. "What about you? How's Amity and all?"

"I'm going to be an actress, I've already got a lead role in an upcoming movie, maybe I'll bring it on a DVD player next time around." Danny nodded in agreement. "Amity hasn't changed much, just more ecto detectors and more Guys in White." Danny nodded, a slight frown on his features.

"And what about you Tucker?" Danny looked up at his other best friend. Tucker seemed distracted but he looked at Danny in surprise when he heard his name.

"I'm doing fine," Tucker began, moving his glassed up the bridge of his nose to see better. "I'm going to be starting college as a billionaire. I finally got that cologne down and I've developed ecto-software. Ecto energy is almost like solar power now and it's easier to convert."

"That's great Tucker!" Danny grinned, not really taking in what Tucker was saying.

"And actually," Sam began, looking at Tucker and then to Danny, "He's getting married soon."

"Already! You just turned nineteen!" Danny's face was so surprised. "And who is the unlucky girl?" He teased.

"I am," A red head jumped out of the Speeder, the blue headband and black shirt made Danny's eyes widen, "I was kind of hoping to tell you first and wonder if it's okay." Jazz smiled gently. "I know you've been through a lot and I suppose it would mean the world to me if you told me if you're okay with this."

"Yeah," Danny's smile faded, it could merely be seen as a ghost of one now. "I'm glad that you're getting married and to Tuck no less, I'm just amazed how much has changed."

Jazz, Tucker, and Sam talked to Danny for hours on end before they realized it was getting late. "We'll see you, Danny, I'll try and get a better lawyer for you and get you out as soon as possible." Sam encouraged, giving Danny a peck on the lips. "I still love you Danny, don't forget that." She ran her hand through his growing locks.

"I won't and you shouldn't forget that I love you." He cradled her face in her hands for a moment before letting her run to the Specter Speeder. He waved them off and watched as they faded into the distance, the Fenton Portal was so far away from Clockworks Domain.

"It's changed so much." A sad smile crossed Danny's features as he pulled the fraying picture out, a tear starting. "We can't go back to the time when we were all together and never separated. We can't go back to ghost fighting till nine at night and studying till ten. We can't go back to how we used to be…" Danny felt tears in his eyes. "But, at least you're still the same in this photograph. Time doesn't ravage you here." He smiled at his young self who seemed so proud and excited of the future. A future, Danny reminded himself, that doesn't exist anymore.

"How was the visit?" Clockwork asked, appearing as a babe before Danny as Danny still gazed at the photograph.

"It was alright but they're all still in a photograph." Danny grinned childishly. Clockwork watched Danny fly away sadly. Danny was wasting away, the major years of his life, the passage from adolescent to adult, was gone. Danny missed out on his friends growing up, he missed out on life itself, and though he's half ghost, he was human too. The thing humans fear most is not living and taking life away from a boy at such a young age, is devastating.

Clockwork sighed as he stared at a scene unfold in front of him, it would be months from now but Danny would be let back into society but under careful supervision 'just in case' Danny would attack like cold blooded monster. They forget, Clockwork thought to himself, he's human too.

* * *

Poor Danny... :sigh:

Reviews are loved and insight on this story is much loved.

Adieu  
_**Nightwing **_


End file.
